Huge win for Aree Song, who's coming back from the brink (brought on by stress, health problems, and injuries), and may now be rethinking her previous plans to focus on the KLPGA next season. But really, everyone else who's been on the LPGA and held it together under trying conditions this week did fantastic. With only 5 scores under par and 1 under 70 (a great 68 by Danah Ford Bordner), today was all about survival. While it was gut-wrenching to watch Libby Smith and Sarah Brown plummet down the leaderboard today, and painful to see Tiffany Joh's best round of the week and Shasta Averyhardt's worst each come up 2 shots too short, I have no doubt they'll bounce back from today's disappointments.

So who's in the LPGA's Class of 2011? The KLPGA's Hee Kyung Seo headlines the class, as she already has an LPGA title (the Kia Classic, to be precise) under her belt. Jennifer Song, Jenny Shin, Ryann O'Toole, and Tiffany Joh advanced from the Futures Tour top 10 (with Joh moving from Category 17 to Category 16, which may get her into a couple more tournaments in 2011). From Q-School, Jessica Korda, Christel Boeljon, Belen Mozo, and Kimberly Kim headline the new rookies with full status, while Dori Carter continued her fine play from the 2nd half of the Futures Tour season, Danah Ford Bordner picked up where she left off in Syracuse, Stephanie Sherlock realized the promise of her amateur career in Canada and at the University of Denver, Jennie Lee bounced back after a tough transition from a great amateur and collegiate career at Duke into professional life over the past season and a half, and Big BreakerSara Brown squeaked in. Joining Joh with partial status next season in the Class of 2011 are Australia's (and Duke's) Alison Whitaker, Virginia's (and the University of Alabama's) Jenny Suh, and Flint, Michigan's (and Jackson State's) Shasta Averyhardt, the 1st African-American member of the LPGA (and only the 4th ever) since 2001. Rounding out the rookie class in Category 20 (which basically means "better luck on other tours!") are Caroline Hedwall (one of the medalists at the LET's pre-qualifying tournament, so she'll be heading across the pond to try to secure an LET card for next season that's worth more than her LPGA card), Japanese amateur Harukyo Nomura (who at least can say she beat Meredith Duncan, Beth Bader, and Ayaka Kaneko in the playoff for the last spot), England's (and the University of New Mexico's) Jodi Ewart, Orlando's (and Wake Forest's) own Stephanie Kim, and Jacksonville's Amelia Lewis. More on their chances next season later!

On the downside, it was more Q-School disappointment for the LET's Becky Brewerton, who can't seem to buy an LPGA card. Heralded younger pros Jennifer Johnson, Jaclyn Sweeney, Sydnee Michaels, Jane Rah, Samantha Richdale, and Hannah Jun will have to spend some (more) time on the Futures Tour (along with other youngsters who missed the cut yesterday like Esther Choe, Mallory Blackwelder, and Lucy Nunn). Whether they'll be joined by LPGAers Meredith Duncan, Beth Bader, Lisa Strom, and Christi Cano remains to be seen, but I have no doubt that Leah Wigger, Mo Martin, Lisa Ferrero, Sarah Brown, Katie Kempter, and Ayaka Kaneko (along with Briana Vega and Whitney Wade) will be back on the FT next season.

3 comments:

Gee - I'll be Shasta's thrilled to be called out for the color of her skin every time she turns around - especailly since she blew up so badly in the final round and threw away full field full status with that 79. She's going to spend as much time on the Futures Tour as she does on the LPGA Tour unless she can play some excellent golf with the big girls.

Personally, I'm thrilled with Danah Ford-Bordner since she was my pro at the DFT pro-am here in Atlanta.

Good to see Jenny Suh, Sara "No H" Brown (full field full status), and Paola Moreno also getting some playing time on the LPGA Tour.

SO - what do you think is going to happen with Sara Brown ? She flew to Spain for the LET pre-qualifier and finished T4 and into the final rounds. Now that she has her LPGA Tour card, is she going to fly back to Spain to go for an LET card ?

If I were Sara (no "h"), I'd head straight for the LET FQT (along with Hedwall). Even full status on the LPGA doesn't mean much these days, unless you can quickly qualify for limited-field events. She could end up with only around a dozen starts next year unless she has dual LPGA-LET membership.